Padam Mobility
DRT Expertise Pays Dividends
This article first appeared in the Bus-News magazine, Issue 2 2022.
The continual crisis in bus funding with passenger numbers only just returning to pre-pandemic levels means there is constant discussion of the role demand-responsive transport (DRT) can play in bus operations.
DRT has the potential to reduce costs and increase coverage. It could ensure that the network can be maintained in areas experiencing difficulties (especially to ensure services at the beginning and end of the day). Equally, it could be used to expand services to improve coverage in poorly served areas in line with Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) as part of Enhanced Partnerships in England. As such, it could provide a lifeline to both passengers and operators.
So far, DRT has still not been widely used in the UK and understanding of how best to design services is not yet widespread. However, Padam Mobility’s UK-based team, Jack Holland and James West, has possibly the most longstanding and broad experience of DRT in the country. They both have worked piloting the first DRT schemes for bus operators in the UK – as well as launching new services in Lincolnshire, Surrey, Leicester and Hertfordshire for Padam Mobility. This experience of working within the bus industry and understanding the business pressures it faces can really pay dividends.
Meet the Padam Mobility Team
Jack Holland, Head of Northern Europe Business Development
Jack is a graduate of the Arriva General Management Graduate scheme where he learnt how to run a bus garage and gained his bus licence. From running bus depots in Buckinghamshire he joined the team that launched ArrivaClick in Sittingbourne.
“I’ve spent years managing bus depots looking at price elasticity, driving hours, managing overheads, marketing services and I have seen first-hand great routes that run at high frequencies and carry thousands of people every day.”
